site.bta“Ukraine: Love + War” Digital Exhibition to Be Displayed in Sofia, Kyiv

The digital exhibition Ukraine: Love + War will be put on display between June 12 and 15 in both Sofia and Kyiv. In Sofia, it will be set up in front of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the organizers said.

Testimonies from photojournalists – eyewitnesses to the war, as well as accounts from some of the victims will be read aloud by Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Olesya Ilashchuk, Georgi Gospodinov, Zachary Karabashliev, Vladimir Karamazov, Aleksandar Aleksiev, Koyna Ruseva, Irina Nedeva, Desislava Stoyanova, Mimi Shishkova, among others. During the exhibition, four of the photographers – Paula Bronstein, Viacheslav Ratynskyi, Gaelle Girbes, and Christopher Occhicone – will join via live online connection to share their first-hand stories and impressions. The programme also includes a Sofia–Kyiv live video link, where a parallel digital exhibition will take place.

The organizers specify that the exhibition is inspired by the books Ukraine: War Crimes and Ukraine – Love + War. The curator is Svetlana Bachevanova, and the producers are FotoEvidence, No Blink Group, and Iskra Staykova.

According to the team, this is the first digital photo exhibition of its kind on Russian war crimes, aiming to present over 700 powerful images and pieces of evidence in a non-traditional format. Three large digital displays will showcase, over 72 hours, the work of 149 photojournalists from 29 countries who have documented the atrocities of the Russian invasion over the past three years.

“A dark room has been set up for the most disturbing images, access to which will be restricted to those over 16 years of age. Visitors will be able to view the photographs using only the light from their phones,” the organizers explain.

Paula Bronstein is one of the leading photojournalists whose work has shed light on wars and conflicts over the last three decades. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed book Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2011 floods in Pakistan.

Vyacheslav Ratynskyi is a Ukrainian photojournalist based in Kyiv, whose work has been published in numerous Ukrainian and international outlets including Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske, Novoye Vremya, Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, Daily Mail, The New York Times, El Pais, Radio Free Europe, BBC, Reuters, and Der Spiegel.

Gaelle Girbes is a French photojournalist focused on long-term projects in conflict zones. She first travelled to Ukraine in early 2017 to cover the conflict independently. During that trip, she decided to focus on Ukraine and the post-Soviet space. Since then, she has documented the ongoing war and its impact on the country.

Christopher Occhicone is a documentary and press photographer who has lived in Kyiv for 14 years. He is working on a long-term project about the legacy of the Soviet orphanage system in Ukraine. Occhicone is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, with his work also appearing in The New York Times, Time Magazine, among others.